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No full report today, sorry.
Big news: greenline offered peace and I took it. Gives me 10 turns enforced peace so I can march all my spare troops east. Once I upgrade my existing units, I'll have the army I need to conquer Japan.
Krill gained Suz of Zanzibar back, so all my cities are back to just Happy, except Bengal because of the entertainment district and arena, ironically. Colosseum has begun.
I also began hanging gardens in Persian.
2 new cities next turn. CMF's horsemen are still circling. Legion and Spear defending new city location.
The Khmer now have one more civic than me, the first time that's happened all game lol. They're about to get GA Monumentality, and have a huge Faith bank. I will only be able to compete with them if I can keep settling more cities and conquer what I can as soon as I can.
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Alas, a one turn day. And likely just a turn a day this weekend per usual, so probably won't see the era flip until Monday. I plan to do a state of the game then.
Meet Rome's two newest cities:
Since both come with monuments, they are a boon to my cultural output if nothing else.
Here's what's going on here. I ended up buying the 2/2 tile north of Aegean to block Fet off from going around that way without declaring war. Also because I realized all of this city's production tiles are second ring. Hooked up the olives here because my empire is going to need the extra amenities. Started on a Granary for lack of a better idea, but will be chopping those two rainforests into the city's Bath.
In Minskin, the free Builder harvested the wheat, so it immediately grew to size 2, and will be size 3 next turn. This.... does very little for the city. It's garbage. Truly a filler. But I wanted to plug this hole in my territory. It will slowly build a bath and then very, very slowly build a campus. It might finish in 100 turns idk.
Colosseum. And hey, of all my cities to drop to Content, the game chose the city building the really important Wonder! Hooray! Why does one of the brand new cities have +4 but my largest city have +2?! Sigh. I adjusted my numbers and I should still get this turn 101. Classical Wonder just past the end of the age.
Ah, I also realized I had mixed some things up. The policy I want that would really juice my Commercial Hubs I get from Guilds, not Medieval Faires. I'm already locked into this route, as it would be, like, 20 turns to get there now, and that would probably be half the age anyway and I'd be stuck in a Tier 1 government a lot longer than I want. I just really wanted to skip Monarchy. I guess my consolation is that I think that policy would be worth "just" a little less than a good trade route. (though town charters would also boost the bonus science, though I am already leading science so I guess it's not a huge loss)
Oh, I'm sending my new Traders to Monks Halo. First one is worth 15+ and the next is 16+. I'll be making like 120 gpt next turn. I can still get more trade routes when Burmese completes its Lighthouse and Bengal does its Market at some point.
La Venta got walls. I wouldn't be surprised if it started upgrading units in the next few turns. Taking it is going to turn into a slog but I'm still going to try to do it ASAP since I can upgrade my units cheap next turn.
Korea flooded again, and the Ancestral Hall was damaged again. Though a couple tiles got improved.
Foreign News:
Japan gained an era score, and I am 99% certain it's a Lighthouse in the capital. I should be able to confirm next turn if japan's Great Admiral points per turn increases again.
This does suggest that, to some degree, Fet is not gearing up for a full on war. Hopefully.
I think that the Khmer finished their first market. They're up to +3 great merchant points. I was mistaken, so Archduke must have built a Comm Hub in his capital as well as in Mostly Harmless (love the naming scheme by the way!). Of course, I'm already getting 8 merchant points per turn.  Oh, and shockingly, Archduke agreed to my offer of Open Borders! Really, I expected him to refuse. Now my exploring merchant can start getting us a good look at the Khmer Empire.
Krill completed China's second Harbor. It is also beginning its lighthouse.
August 30th, 2024, 19:37
(This post was last modified: August 30th, 2024, 19:48 by Whosit.)
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Did a little Japan analysis to plan for upcoming hostilities.
1st, I'm pretty confident that the 3 Horsemen and the 2 Warriors on my borders represent the bulk of his forces. Should only be 2-3 Warriors and an Archer back home, plus the Galley that can garrison a city.
2nd, Japan just finished a Lighthouse in the capital, and has begun a Shrine. Harbor completed in 3rd city, beginning Lighthouse. Looks like a focus on infrastructure. Which.... can't blame him. Gotta try to catch up however possible.
So I feel I can wait a few more turns, upgrade my army to Man-at-Arms and Crossbowmen, and I can hold a few back to take La Venta, and the rest, with a Great General backing them, can probably make significant headway into Japan before reinforcements can be mustered. All cities will be worth keeping for the harbors, though assuming I pull this off, I'll need more amenities somehow.
3rd, I was trying to get an idea of how much production industry Japan has.
All in all, Japan has few cities, and they remain very small. There really is very little food out there, on top of the other problems Japan has face. Feels bad. But that means that it will take a lot more time for Japan to train new troops, so if I am able to make swift conquests, I probably won't get too bogged down.
Of course, I said that bout Korea.  I should expect Iron and gold to be donated to Japan, so some of those Warriors could become swords. But Japan definitely does not have any Medieval tech, at the moment, so the sooner I make a move the better.
EDIT: Oh nooooooo
I just realized that I may have made a terrible mistake if Fet decides to take the opportunity. I moved the Legion out of the city to cover the Builder and put the Spearman in the city. But the spearman added no defense, and the city currently has a power of 30, instead of 40 if the Legion were guarding. Can 3 Horsemen (power 36) possibly take the city in a single turn? I don't think Cavalry have a penalty against cities in the final version of Civ 6?
OK, that power difference is like an Archer vs a Warrior. And I think cities technically have 200 Hp vs a unit's 100 hp. I actually have a scenario in the current turn where I can see an Archer(30) vs Warrior (24). Archer takes off a third of Warrior's health. OK, testing a Legion(40) vs Japan's city (31) shows the Legion taking off 1/6 health. So yeah, double Hp. My city will be fine. Phew.
But good I checked all that. Taking Japan's cities will be a little harder than I thought, especially since I cannot put any under siege. Will need to be fully healed and have at least 4 melee units to surround as much as possible.
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2 Turns until the new Era....
New policies....
Saves a couple turns on the Encampment. Chartreux will follow up with a Stable, and Bengal will build an Armory after the Colosseum.
Upgrades begin:
Starting to feel a little more secure here. Great General is going to have to head north west to meet up with the force that will attack La Venta.
Chops.
Bengal Happy this turn, and glad for it. I stole the 4 production mine from Bombay. I think that might just be enough extra production to push past the finish line next turn! The part of me that wants to optimize says to wait for the era to roll, but the part of me that knows another player might be going for it says to not take that risk.
September 1st, 2024, 08:21
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Heart's thumping as I open the save for turn 100.... and I lost the Colosseum to Archduke.  One turn.
TBH, I'm not as despondant as I thought I'd be. Maybe I'm just coping. So I get half the invested production back (121), and after some deliberation, decide to put it into the Oracle. It's not a bad wonder, and though I will probably never generate enough faith to benefit from the cost reduction for patronizing great people with faith, it will be worth +2 great merchant points, +2 great general points, and soon, +2 great writer, artist, and musician points. And I can get a +6 culture theatre square out of this placement, as much culture as the Colosseum would have generated.
I will sorely miss those amenities, though, and the denial value was strong as well. But, it's my own damn fault. I'd have started on the project much sooner if I hadn't decided to attack Korea. A lot of wasted production chopped into the Colo, but I guess since a lot of it was rainforest, I still grew Bengal a lot.
I tested what a chop would do and it would immediately finish the wonder. I suppose Archduke could be working on the Oracle as well, but I feel like he'd have finished it by now if he had really wanted it. I'm going to take the risk of waiting for next turn (so the builder is just going to idle for a turn) because the +3 era score would be worth much more to me next turn. Guess we'll see if that bites me, too. 
(Speaking of era score, when hopping back into the save to gather metrics, I moved the GG at Chartreux first, and realized Great General victories work vs barbs. Glad I didn't get that this turn, either, but will make sure I get that victory after the turn rolls.)
Did I mention that Krill's second city, Long, is size 9 now so soon Krill well get another huge boost to science, culture, and gold. Yongle's China is starting to take off.
Golden Age still secure with this. Going to continue the good thing we have with Free Inquiry into the Medieval Era. Korea bumped up to 38 era score.... curious if that's enough for a Normal age or not.
At least I can start mapping out Khmer territory. Archduke has such a low military power, maybe Rome will once again send its troops out on the waves some day.  (Yes, I see everyone else as a potential conquest target, whether or not I have actually shown aptitude for conquest!)
How it's going....
If turn 101 rolls around today, then I will do a big update. Looks like Archduke isn't around, despite his complaints earlier in the general thread.
Happiness is about to be a big problem for my empire. Every city is Happy right now, but Bombay is going to become content when it grows. Maybe I should have stuck with the Bath build, but I just wanted to get Stonehenge done. I plan to swap out of Corvee when Medieval Faires completes. Hm, maybe when the era rolls, I'll upgrade my remaining Legions then swap out of Professional Army since I don't even have crossbowman tech yet. I think Republican Legacy for the amenities would actually be a good call.
September 1st, 2024, 15:51
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Alright, main update for T101, then I'll do my State of the Empire in a separate post.
I was surprised to see that Japan and China got Heroic Ages! The surprise is mainly due to not being familiar with the thresholds the game generates when you get a low era score (not because I'm a master of generating era score, I just normally don't look that closely).
I know that Japan has selected Free Inquiry, Pen Brush and Voice, and Monumentality. This puts me on a timer. Japan now has a much better chance of acquiring a better defensive tech by the time I am able to strike. However, doesn't change their low production.
I don't know what China has picked because Krill plays after me, but I assume it will be the same choices. So that's going to be a serious boost to China's economy.
I make my selection, so nothing changes for me.
I'm going to need 44 Era Score to get a Golden Age again. I'll probably just have 40 turns to do it. Better get on it!
I immediately claim the next Great Merchant (+1 era score). Normally, I think this is a very weak Merchant, but in this game, I realize every amenity counts.
Consolation Oracle completed (+3 era score). 6 culture theatre begun.
I had no idea that I could do this....
Every time Civ 6 has some great UI feature, it's like... impossible to find. 1,400 hours into Civ 6, I only just learned I can click that arrow to get this info.
I noticed that Mo Li Hua was losing loyalty quickly and wondered why, before I realized that it's cumulative pressure now that China has a Heroic Age. I'm not sure if Korea can actually stop it this time around, but we'll see. If the city does break away, will it want to join me, or China?
Policies for now, but I want to run Trade Federation as soon as I can.
OK, so cost adjustment won't FINISH a tech (Machinery), but look how much faster I can research all these techs now that they're reduced to their base price! I mean, that will be true for everyone else as well.
Beginning to venture into Khmer territory. Archduke clearly did not build Ancestral Hall (probably Audience Chamber like Krill did). I was wondering why it was taking so long for the Holy Sites to finish at these new towns, and it's because they're not well improved yet. Well, THIS city isn't improved. We'll see what the rest of the empire looks like.
I do like how my newest cities are already size 4 and 3(next turn) because my free builders are chopping resources for them.
Hanging Gardens are coming along. I miiiiight be able to get a chop in before I swap out of Corvee, but I'm not sure. I don't really think I'm chasing anyone for this, anyway.
Oh no, International Congress. I think these take up a full turn for PBEM. Also, I wonder what's going to be up for votes. Please, please not a luxury one. I assume human players are going to want to vote for MORE amenities, but I could see them all trying to nuke one of the luxuries that only I have.
I think Rome will be entering into a slower period. At least until war happens. I'm beginning to move troops into position to attack La Venta. Then I will move on Japan. I'm hoping I will still be able to get by without needing to build even more troops. I'm still confident that 4-5 Man-at-Arms and 3-4 Crossbowmen backed by a Great General should probably do the job. We'll see if I'm right this time, lol.
September 1st, 2024, 16:18
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Roman Empire: Turn 101, State of the Game
Time for the city tour!
Bombay
My capital. A little bit more neglected than I'd like (unimproved tiles), this city has been very strong. Hopefully I will not have to build Settlers out of it again and can let it grow. Although I'm beginning to notice a lack of good tiles to work at this size. I think that the Pyramids are serving me well, but I still need even more builders!
Bengal
Remember when Bengal was a jungle-choked little village? It's now my empire's largest metropolis! It needs a lot of mines put down, and maybe some farms in the northwest. Once Bengal finishes new districts and infrastructure, it can focus on producing more troops for the empire.
Burmese
Burmese was settled to secure the coast, and has been a fairly week city until recently. I mean, it's still kind of a runt, but with the Harbor+Commercial Hub combo, it's making us a ton of money, and serves as a gateway to trade with China (and maybe even the Khmer).
Persian
Originally founded to secure a couple of luxury resources, Persian has been making me proud. It really needs that farm triangle to get constructed so it can start growing faster. I'll finish off that Industrial Zone in a couple of turns when Aegean's Bath is finished, for the Era Score, production, and Great Engineer points!
Chartreux
Another solid town. However, it needs to grow and more tiles need to be improved for it to reach its full potential.
Aegean
I think that with time and work, Aegean will be a solid town. Right now, it's locking down my borders, and giving me olives. A commercial hub will be Aegean's first specialty district, and then an Industrial Zone. Olives are probably going to have to serve as food sources, and the 2nd ring tiles will give the city solid production.
Minskin
A total filler city. It will eventually complete a +4 Campus. That Encampment tag is probably a lie. I don't think this city is going to generate enough production to build any more districts lol.
Who can win this thing?
I figure readers may be curious how I feel about everyone's chances at winning from this point forward. Well, I'm happy to oblige! Rather than try to rank everyone, I'm just going to assign players to a category.
Definitely Not Going to Win.
Japan (CMF)
Although CMF is working hard to fix his empire's economy, the early damage was too severe. Japan's scientific and cultural output have fallen too far behind everyone else's to have any shot at winning the game. Even with the Heroic Age, I think Japan is too far behind to catch up.
Not really much else to say. Assuming I can avoid falling on my own sword this time, I hope to conquer Japan soon. I'll need to keep in mind that defensive bonus from religion.
Unlikely to Win.
Korea (greenline)
Maybe this is just sour grapes since I didn't get an easy win over them a few turns ago, but looking at Korea's position, I'm not really sure how they would reach a victory condition. Korea's one trick is generating a lot of science, and they haven't been first in science for a while. I think even without my bonuses from Free Inquiry, I'd still be ahead, and all the other civs are equal with Korea. Even Khmer! Who have no bonuses for science.
Korea has only built military units for defense, and having read a portion of greenline's other game threads, I think he prefers builder stuff over warmonger stuff. Maybe he can get one more city down in the ice and tundra, but I think that Korea has basically run out of room to expand peacefully. Unless greenline has some clever way to jump ahead, I think that Korea is about to begin a slow decline....
China (Krill)
I really need more intel on China, but at least on turn 101 I don't think I'd want to swap positions. Yongle's abilities are really going to juice up Krill's cities as more start to hit size 10, but if I look at the land (that I can see) and number of cities, I'm concerned that China is a paper tiger at best.
Long is about to hit size 10 for another +10 science/culture and +20 gold boost for China, but Krill's next largest city is size 4. I think Krill was too slow to expand, while simultaneously was too slow to grow his core cities. Though the coastal start with poor food options surely didn't help.
While China's numbers could start looking scary, I feel like it's really going to be a band-aid for a poor foundation, rather than a big bonus on top of an already strong civ. Like, the reason I wanted Tokugawa is because those internal trade routes can really get crazy as long as your cities are generally strong, too.
Not a lot of military power in China, either. I think Krill was also looking for a chill, buildery experience. I'm not really sure what victory condition China could reasonably go for from their current position.
Heroic Age note: China will absolutely keep up with science and culture for this age. But unless Krill gets more cities soon, I think he just won't have the production base to compete in the later stages of the game.
Likely to Win
Khmer (Archduke)
Archduke has been playing a strong game from what I can tell, and I think the Khmer are only just hitting their stride. The coming Age will tell what Archduke does with all that Faith. I'm not sure how much expansion room that Khmer actually have, but I'll learn that soon.
If I were to bet, as I've stated before, Monumentality Golden Age, Settlers and Builders, then construct the Grand Master's Chapel and Theocracy government for cheap Faith-bought soldiers.
Rome (Me!)
Although we are leaving the age in which Rome has its greatest advantage, and despite some misteps I've made, I think I'm in a very solid position to win. I am about to assemble all the tools I need for a cultural victory, but I believe that I also have good opportunities to expand by conquest. I could even settle more land (I'll need one more Settler just to get Salt), but I need to be careful of getting too wide too fast, or my cities could become unhappy.
Conversely, I think I'm fairly insulated from military attack myself. Japan is going to be conquered. Greenline/Korea doesn't want to fight me. China and Khmer can't fight me, even if they wanted, due to geography.
September 2nd, 2024, 09:13
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Vote is on Great People (double GPP or No GPP) and districts (double production, or no production).
I put 3 votes for double great writers, and 2 votes for double prod in Industrial Zones.
I really have no experience with how players will vote in these, and it's been a while since I've read MP reports that covered this. I have a worry that the other players will vote to shut down great merchants, since I am generating the most points by fair and no one else is really investing heavily in Commercial Hubs.
I doubt that anyone is going to vote to prevent the construction of buildings in a given district, but not really sure what people will vote on. A lot of harbors are being built by other players, but most have already gotten their lighthouses up.
September 3rd, 2024, 19:43
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Last turn, Khmer cashed in their faith as predicted, and Japan got Apprenticeship. That means they could conceivably get peer units, as I'd expect they'd get donations of iron and gold in war. I was thinking I would make a quick push for gunpowder, since it's just 1 tech away, but....
Settler is now a super priority. Will swap to Colonization next turn and punish Bombay again by having it make another Settler.
Before the turn came, I joked to myself that it would be really funny if I had no niter, but what were the odds?
With only one source available to me, I may need to invest in Magnus's promotion that reduces how many strategic resources you need to train troops in a city to just build new units in addition to upgrades.
Khmer have Niter at their capital. 
Normally, this is the point to blame the map maker, right? But we don't have one....
Religion. I wasn't originally planning to take Zen Meditation, but I think I'm going to need every amenity I can get. Sacred Places because obviously.
I'm going to have to rely on passive spread to La Venta, since I wasn't planning on building a Holy Site in Bombay. If I see any sign that Archduke is going to send missionaries to my cities, I will declare war and purge them.
Era score~
This turn, Krill finished Naval Tradition and got the card that doubles Harbor adjacency. He's getting a good bump of gold and science out of it. I debated about putting off Exploration to go back to try and get Guilds, but I think I committed too far to turn back now. Also, I forgot that Merchant Republic also gives +15% to district construction, which will be generally useful.
I can also slot in Merchant Confederation to get a little bump to science and culture. Who knows, maybe +4 culture will cut a turn off of the next tech?
Next turn, I should be finishing the Hanging Gardens with a chop. Then Persian will be able to finish its Industrial zone in a couple more turns. Workshop immediately to use the congress bonus.
Bengal will do an Armory after Theatre Square. I want to limit how much time I need to be in Veterancy. Next builder wave will be a little bit delayed, but I think that I will be alright until then.
September 4th, 2024, 14:46
(This post was last modified: September 4th, 2024, 14:49 by Whosit.)
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Turn 104
Chopped out Hanging Gardens. Era score, but I think the 15% growth bonus will actually help a bit. Would have helped more if I'd built this before T104, but I had other priorities.
These changes bring my science to 73, and my culture to a much more respectable 60. I'm still trailing Khmer in culture by a few points (Bengal's theater will help). Krill's 2nd city hit size 10, so another big boost in numbers for China.
My "Wonderful" capital. ;P
As expected, I am a few turns too slow to make an easy conquest of La Venta, but I went ahead and declared war anyway. Seemed an opportunity to get in some first strikes. Killed the Archer and captured the builder (1 charge left, I'll want to save that for the Marble). Next turn I'll get a better idea about how helpful that battering ram will be. At least the city archer and walls won't do a ton of damage to my troops each turn, and I'll have some in reserve to swap out.
We celebrate a man-at-arms killing an archer, lol.
I noticed that Don't Panic is building the Entymenaki or however it's spelled. Will be +1 sci and +1 prod for each highlighted tile. This city is going to become monstrous. Starting to look like the Khmer don't have quite as much expansion room as I was expecting, but it's all very high quality land from what I've seen so far. I think Archduke and I got the jackpots for starting locations. Oh, there was also niter at Mostly Harmless, so Khmer may end up with a scary gunpowder army.
Khmer have still only met me and China though.
Oh, and Japan has finally gotten its iron mine set up. I think the fight to take La Venta will give me a better idea about how hard it will be to capture a peer-strength city.
Might get a second turn tonight. That would be fun.
EDIT: Note on great people.
I'm planning to pass on Boudica, and it should just take Krill 9 turns to get enough points to take. I also think I may end up passing on the Great Merchant after the current one. I just have this vague worry that the other players would also opt to pass, and make it impossible to get any more great people. Don't know if that's really a likely outcome.... Korea's had to wait a long long time to get the next great scientist. I think that the Khmer slotted in the science card since their points went up by 4 (2 x 2).
Khmer also gained a merchant point, so they must have built... a comm hub or market. I forgot to check, but I'll probably see soon.
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